throet

No worries man I'm learning a lot from reading about what works for everybody, and frankly I'm just glad to be active now in a sport that is so enjoyable for me. I have no interest in competing at MTB; so I can approach this stuff more casually than others. I think for me it's more a question of how I don't react. As long as I keep carbs at around 45 - 55 grams per meal, and mix those carbs with good fat and protein, I feel fine all the time. When I'm hungry between meals, I usually eat a protein bar or some almonds. If I were to eat a high-carb, high-glycemic meal followed by nothing else, within 90 minutes I'd feel like shit and would be heading for a big crash. The biggest thing I avoid are sugared drinks, even fruit juice, followed by cookies, cakes, etc. I try not to eat any bread at all, except for a high-fiber muffin or breakfast cereal, but will occasionally wrap up some fajitas in a flour tortilla. Probably the highest GI items I consume regularly are baked potatoes and white rice, although lately I've been substituting a sweet potato much of the time. I generally consume fruit either on top of my cereal or pre-ride / post-ride, which seems to work well for me, especially high-fiber stuff like apples.

Sounds like the same format as the Dirt Rag publication that comes with the ARR / IMBA membership.

Sweet! These scattered showers are really tricky like that, although even at my house things have dried up nicely from the earlier downpour.

Ouch..... and so unnecessary. I don't know about the rest of you but I've been losing my focus a lot in this horrid heat and humidity. I clipped a bar coming through that tree gate on Double Down (sure it has a name but I don't know it). It's the one that requires some good momentum riding E-W but that you can normally just fly through riding W-E. I was attempting to fly through it at high speed, as I normally do without incident, and clipped my bar, sending me flying forward. Somehow I managed to land on both feet though with an arm assist.

I live about a mile away and got a heavy downpour a couple of hours ago on top of whatever fell during the night. Guessing that the rain will soak in quickly but there's a chance of more being on the way.

Thanks. I see other references to carbon paste as well, and didn't even know it was a thing. I'm going to check into that for sure.

I don't think I said that you said "just glucose". If I did it wasn't my intention. All I said was that the science points to a steady stream of glucose being essential, which is scary for me. I was merely piggy-backing your response - not countering any of your statements. I think the scary thing about my "medical condition" is that pre-diabetes technically isn't a medical condition and by the measures used to calculate it, millions of individuals have "it" and don't even realize it. I've been very athletic my entire adult life and have never been overweight; yet I found myself awakening in an ambulance because my blood sugar reached a potentially fatal level without me knowing that I had a "medical condition" or even knowing anything about metabolism. Perhaps the lesson for me here and potential warning to others is that I spent 20 years excelling at the highest amateur level of a demanding sport (racquetball) without ever paying attention to nutrition, recovery, etc. Understanding all of the science and getting that stuff right to begin with is probably a big key to longevity in any sport.

Is there a "rule of thumb" torque setting for anything attaching to carbon bars? I don't recall if any of my components have values stamped on them, and even if they did those values would likely vary for carbon. I tend to google search when I'm tightening anything on my bars, and seem to recall using something between 3-4 nm. My grips, which only have inside locks, can still spin after tightening to recommended torque, but I've resisted tightening them any further. Hopefully the occasional spinning of the lock ring is not in itself compromising the integrity of the bar.

I'm struggling with this because as you state, all of the science points to a continuous stream of glucose being key for these events. For some of us though, our bodies tend to defy science. I had a series of hypoglycemic seizures during my years of playing competitive tennis, and learned that what was happening was my blood glucose was hitting near 200 during my matches while consuming only Gatorade and water, but would plummet to 45 (lowest measured before losing consciousness) within an hour or so of being at rest. I was diagnosed as pre-diabetic, but the only real explanation I got from the endocrinologist was that my pancreas was unhappy. I've kept things under control by staying on a largely low-carb diet and by consuming a mix of carbs, fats, and proteins for energy while on long, strenuous MTB rides (no longer playing tennis). Probably not ideal from a performance perspective, but it seems to have kept my hypoglycemic episodes in check. For recovery I like to start with an apple or some grapes to combat any crash, but then follow with a good mix of protein, fat, and carbs, including beer of course.

This is great advice and I think that balancing the momentum and pace to stay aerobic is probably going to be one of the skills I have to develop. Also as AB suggested, setting your pride aside and walking around some really challenging features makes great sense when your goal is to stay peddling for the better part of a day. I've also been using intense interval training throughout my 2-3hr rides as a way to increase anaerobic threshold, which should help keep me in "cruise control" for most of my 2 laps at DS.

This makes a lot of sense. It's just really hard to do in the summer time. My energy level gets zapped too quickly and I find myself half-assing stuff instead of attacking stuff. I can't wait until cooler temps enable me to increase intensity over an entire ride vs. just doing what amounts to interval training.

Does the high humidity affect you guys? I opted out of riding a loop out there when I saw that the dew point was going to be 70+ all day. Not sure about the rest of you, but when the air is that moist, it just sucks the life out of me. I ended up doing 18 miles at Brushy, but stopped a few times to catch my breath and a couple of times to wring out my gloves, headband, and shirt.

Obvious solution - buy Renthal! Seriously dude I'm really glad you're OK. That is truly some scary shit. I did snap a carbon brake lever the other day after washing out on a sharp turn, but the only consequence was having to finish my ride with a sharp, nubby front brake lever.

So why did you have them on your bike, especially riding downhill? Is it this single incident that made you draw this conclusion or have you done sufficient research to know these things simply don't happen with aluminum bars? My bike came with carbon bars, and when I noticed how much better my arms felt when riding on them, I bought a pair for my second bike. No matter how "smooth your bike rides", there will be vibrations passing through the handle bars. Carbon absorbs those vibrations much better than aluminum. For somebody with tendinitis or other issues, that can make a big difference. I've heard that titanium does an even better job dampening vibrations but I'm not sure how much stronger it is. I actually appreciate the alert and certainly have thought about the consequences of a bar failing. I'd really like to see the manufacturers publish better safety information relating to stuff like this, but of course it is an inherently dangerous sport to begin with.

More about the feel than the weight for me, and I ride 5 times per week, weekends included (18 miles of Brushy goodness this morning). Sounds like what you're saying is that nobody under any circumstance should ever ride carbon bars, but doesn't it really come down to riding style and other factors, such as bar width? Remember what you taught me when I was just getting into the sport - light hands, heavy feet?

Me too. Less vibration than alloy.

My plan is to do a single, chill morning loop on Monday. My goal will be to not get lapped by any of you bad asses.

I'm sure some of you will be moving so fast it doesn't matter, but the horseflies were relentless out there yesterday when Albert and I were clearing trees between Cedar Breaks and Crockett Gardens. If you ride slow like me or plan on frequent stops, some Deet might be in order.

Great ride this morning despite the humidity. HoneyBadger even earned an Eagle Scout patch for administering first aid to a bloodied and bruised rider we came across who took a nasty spill on Rim.

Once again the guys at Monkey Wrench came through big for me. With one bike in need of major work and the other needing replacement parts from two separate manufacturers, these guys turned both bikes around in just a few days. I would have been thrilled to just get one bike back for the weekend, but instead returned home with 2 bikes and a big smile. These guys really rock! Can't imagine getting more personalized service anywhere.

So far we have @throet, @Chief, and @Cafeend confirmed for 7:30am under the 183A overpass. We'll meetup with @HoneyBadger at 8am in front of Mulligan. @Albert was a maybe when I last spoke to him yesterday. Anybody else joining can meet at either the starting point or the Mulligan rendezvous point.

The more of this work I do, the greater appreciation I have for the many folks who do way more of it than I do.

+1

Wow that's crazy! Where exactly did it break?